'Rain Man' Leads Pack For Oscars

AND THE NOMINATIONS ARE. . .

'Liaisons,' 'Mississippi' Are Up For 7 Awards Each

February 16, 1989

LOS ANGELES — The film Rain Man, the story of an autistic man who goes on a cross-country trip with his unscrupulous brother, led the field with eight Oscar nominations Wednesday, including one for best picture.

The movie also received nominations for Dustin Hoffman as best actor and Barry Levinson as best director.

Two films, Dangerous Liaisons, a French costume drama of seduction starring John Malkovich and Glenn Close, and Mississippi Burning, the story of the murder of three civil rights activists in the 1960s, each had seven nominations.

Both were nominated for best picture, as were The Accidental Tourist, an adaptation of Anne Tyler's acclaimed novel tracing the emotional journeys of a travel writer, and Working Girl, a Cinderella tale of a secretary who battles her way up the corporate ladder.

Sigourney Weaver claimed a rare Oscar double nomination, for best actress for Gorillas in the Mist: The Adventure of Dian Fossey and best supporting actress for Working Girl.

The nominations were announced in a predawn news conference at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oscar trophies will be presented March 29 at a 9 p.m. EST ceremony broadcast on ABC WFTV-Channel 9.

Joining Weaver in the best actress competition were Glenn Close for Dangerous Liaisons, Jodie Foster for The Accused, Meryl Streep for A Cry in the Dark, and, in her first Oscar nomination, Melanie Griffith for Working Girl.

Their male counterparts, joining Rain Man's Hoffman, included Gene Hackman for Mississippi Burning. He was joined by Oscar nominee newcomers Tom Hanks for Big, Edward James Olmos for Stand and Deliver, and veteran actor Max von Sydow for Denmark's Pelle the Conqueror.

In addition to Levinson's nomination for Rain Man, best director nominees included Charles Crichton for A Fish Called Wanda, Martin Scorsese for the controversial The Last Temptation of Christ, Alan Parker for Mississippi Burning, and Mike Nichols for Working Girl.

Nominated for best supporting actress were Joan Cusack for Working Girl, Geena Davis for The Accidental Tourist, Frances McDormand for Mississippi Burning, Michelle Pfeiffer for Dangerous Liaisons, and Working Girl's Weaver.

Veteran actor Alec Guinness, co-star of Little Dorrit, received a nomination for best supporting actor, as did Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda, Martin Landau for Tucker: The Man and His Dream, River Phoenix for Running on Empty, and Dean Stockwell for Married to the Mob.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the inventive comic blend of animation and live action, drew six nominations, but all of them for technical achievements. Working Girl also collected six nods, including best original song for Car-

ly Simon's ''Let the River Run.''

Other multiple nominees included Gorillas in the Mist, with five, and The Accidental Tourist and Die Hard, with four nominations.

Among the films and performers attracting little or no attention from the Academy were A Cry in the Dark and Bull Durham, each collecting only one nomination.

Accidental Tourist's William Hurt, nominated the last three years, was overlooked this year, as was Shirley MacLaine for Madame Sousatzka.

Also, there was no apparent backlash against Mississippi Burning, widely criticized for rewriting the history of the civil rights movement.